


Seashells and Dandelions

by TheOneKid123



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:46:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29329524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneKid123/pseuds/TheOneKid123
Summary: Marco Bodt's childhood friend joins the scouts in hopes of making a better life, Marco being the person he is refuses to let her do it alone and insists he comes with her. They go through highs, (making friends, growing a stronger friendship, and making memories with each other and their new friends) and lows. When Marco's death hit Y/N it hit hard and they sought out the comfort of Armin, the two being previous friends to get closer and eventually form a romantic relationship. However, living in a world of demons can take a toll on relationships platonic and romantic.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter One

"Marco stop it, you don't have to do this," I say walking out of the house

"Y/N I can't just let you go by yourself, what kind of friend would that make me?" he replies, almost tripping on the slightly curved piece of wood at the bottom of the door. Even Though it's his house, he never got used to it.

"Look Marco you know I love you but if you join just because of me then I'll never forgive myself if something happened. I know this isn't what you want and I don't know if you could handle it" I've been trying to reason with him for weeks.

"Ok then... I'll join for me. I want to be in the military police, that's why I'm joining," he said, wearing a small smile when I turned around. God, he was so persistent

"Whatever Marco, it's not like I can stop you or something, it's your decision, not mine," I said, turning back around walking towards the shops. I know this isn't what he wants but it's his decision, not mine and I have to be ok with that.

"So when does training start?" he asked, catching up now walking beside me. He only stood at 5'8 which was only 2 inches taller than me.

"I think next Tuesday, did your mom want chicken or pork?" I asked looking at the meat stand

"Chicken, I didn't realize it was that soon '' he said, slightly fidgeting as I paid for the meat and continued my journey for ingredients.

"Marco, all I'm asking is that you don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do." Getting the rest of the ingredients was quick. The walk back was slightly awkward.

"Thank you Y/N, uh-Marco are you ok?" Mrs.Bodt asked looking at Marco's worried face

"I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I have decided I want to join the military police. I will be attending training with Y/N" he said, voice getting softer and less confident as he got to the end. Looking away from his mother gaze to your back as you started to chop vegetables up

"I tried to talk some sense into him Mrs.Bodt but he won't let up" I explained turning around"Well....be safe take care of each other," She said with a soft smile as she joined me to prepare dinner

"Of course mom"

"Will do Mrs.Bodt"We both said at the same time

"You'd better tell your father Marco, he's outback," she said, once she heard the back door close she stopped and looked Y/N in eyes, a pleading look in them

"Y/N please we both know Marco isn't cut out for this please watch out for him. Please" she said grabbing y/n hands.

"I always have," I said, giving her a sincere smile. I was older than Marco by a year and I have always looked out for him. We've been friends since I was 4. That's when I moved into the house next door to his. He's like my brother and there's nothing I wouldn't do to keep him safe.

"I'll keep him safe Mrs.Bodt I promise"

.

.

.

"That's not Marco, Jean, it can't be '' I tear my eyes off the dead body, half-eaten, to look at Jean who has tears threatening to spill. He couldn't even look me in the eye, which was the only answer I needed"NO! That's not Marco, we just haven't found him yet. He's probably looking for us right now" I yell running around frantically  
.  
.  
.  
"Hey" I whisper/yell at the girl standing next to me, she turns her head

"Is that a potato?" I asked looking at the round object she holds in the hand behind her back

"Yeah, it's still warm" she whispers back, a giddy tone in her voice

"Can I have a bite?" I ask. Were almost the same height im slightly taller? She looked around making sure no one could catch the interaction.

"Catch," she says, tossing me the potato that already had a bite out of it, I took a bite and tossed it back, she took a bite and tossed it to me. This went on until commander Sadies saw her with the half-eaten potato

"What is that?" he asked, staring at the girl whose name I learned is Sasha, looked past him to see Marco staring at me with wide eyes.

"Sir it was my fault, I took it a shared it with her," I told him

"But you can have half" Sasha offered to break the potato in "half" and handing him the smaller piece

.

"Well at least we're running together right," I said jogging alongside Sasha

"But...no....foOD" she cried. We've been running for hours and the sun is starting to set. "Run till you drop", he said, what a pick. A while into the dark Sasha gave up and went to the bunks. I saw Marco watching from the small porch of his bunks. He had fallen asleep but when he woke up at dawn, he saw running.

"Y/N WHY ARE YOU STILL RUNNING?!" he yelled successfully waking up the rest of his bunkmates who came outside to see the same sight

"HE SAID RUN TILL YOU DROP.....I HAVEN'T DROPPED YET!" I yelled back out of breath. Commander Sadies went to see what the commotion was about and saw you still running. He was shocked and also impressed.

"You can stop now," he said watching as you fall to your knees gasping for air

"Seeing as you ran all night I'm not sure if you can participate in today's training, but that's not my problem," he said, handing over some water. After chugging it down you jumped up and assured him you'd be capable. He wasn't convinced, but as the day went on he saw you weren't lying. Dinner time came and you walked with Sasha to the mess hall

"How do you run all night?" she asked pushing the doors open

"I didn't," I said as Sasha looked shocked

"Between you and me, I fell asleep for a few hours during the night and then went back to running before anyone woke up. I just wanted to give him a shock" I explained as we picked our tray of food up

"Just don't tell anyone," I said as we sat down at a table with Marco and two other guys who I didn't know

"Oh this is Connie," Sasha said pointing to a short boy with a shaved head and big hazel eyes"And this is Jean" she gestured to a boy who was probably my height with a long face and two-toned hair. Marco sat in between the two.

"Jean, Connie this is Y/N'' Sasha said. You all started to talk and get to know each other but the peace was ruined when Jean got into a heated argument with Eren that I wasn't paying attention to

.

.  
.  
“Y/N. please calm down." Sasha desperately tried to calm her friend  
"Breath Y/N, you need to breathe," Connie told the frantic teen  
"No no. it doesn't make sense, he doesn't even have his gear on. WHERE IS HIS GEAR!?"  
.  
.  
.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco Bodt's childhood friend joins the scouts in hopes of making a better life, Marco being the person he is refuses to let her do it alone and insists he comes with her. They go through highs, (making friends, growing a stronger friendship, and making memories with each other and their new friends) and lows. When Marco's death hit Y/N it hit hard and they sought out the comfort of Armin, the two being previous friends to get closer and eventually form a romantic relationship. However, living in a world of demons can take a toll on relationships platonic and romantic.

"You're going to get wrecked by her Y/N," Marco said jogging to keep up

" I'm sure ill be fine, it's not like she'll kill me" I scoffed rolling my eyes

"Y/N don't be so cocky, have you seen her in a match," Jean said walking backward in front of you.

"Guys, I'm going to be fine. Stop worrying" I said, getting annoyed, I get they're worried but really? It's not that big of a deal, we all have to match with each other at least once.

"All we're trying to say is-" Jean cut off as he tripped on his foot and fell on his back

"Maybe you should worry more about yourself Jean," I said going to meet up with my training partner. Annie. She was a very beautiful girl, very stoic, and kept to herself

"Go easy Annie" Connie shouted from where he was "training" with Sasha

"I'm sorry about them, they're idiots, let's just start" God they were embarrassing. We took a stance and Marco was staring, worry clear on his face. Neither of us was throwing the first punch just circling. It was getting rather boring so I faked the first move causing her to react and throw a punch to my left side but I dodged, moving to the right. She moved quickly and precisely. She knew what she was doing and she definitely had experience, but so did I. I had an upper hand being taller than her but she has easily taken down people twice her size. I threw a kick to her side but she dodged with ease. This went on for a while we both got some good hits in but neither of us was down. It started to draw attention and soon there was a crowd observing. After a while, I decided to use my "special" move. I got behind her and ran kicking her in the back of the knee then the middle of her back then I forced her down by putting my feet on her shoulders and pushing off on them doing a flip and landing in a crouching position on the ground. I looked up and saw Annie on the floor, soon getting up. I got up and walked towards her as she put her hand out. I shook it and she gave a nod before walking away.

"Holy shit Y/N!"

"Did you just beat Annie?!"

"That was so cool"I looked to see the crowd going crazy before commander Sadies came to stop the "ruckus" as he put it. At a distance, Eren was trying to figure out to ask you for help regarding the training

.

"Come on Armin you're smart, how do I approach her?" Eren said to his close friend while he paced back and forth

"I don't know Eren, people arent my best subject" He replied sitting down with a book in his hand next to Mikasa"But I have to be subtle about it, I can't just say "Hey help me with the training" that would sound weird" He sighed

"Y/N is an approachable person, just be straight forward," Mikasa said like it was obvious

"Ok fine Mikasa! Armin, you have to come with me" Eren stated

"Wa-what why?" Armin said getting nervous, he had an attraction to you that he wouldn't admit. Seeing how you would take punishments for things you didn't even do, and how determined you were to accomplish whatever your goal was. You attracted him and the thought of actually talking to you scared him. What if he made a fool out of himself, yeah he had a way with words but he never used them like that.

"Let's go," Eren said, grabbing his friend's arm and dragging him to where you were currently, talking to Connie and Marco. Eren stopped about 2 feet away, Connie was the first to notice. He nudged Marco and he got the hint and they left. You turned to face the two boys.

"Hey Eren, Armin how can I help you," You said it with such sincerity, and the small smile that played on your lips nearly made Armin pass out. He had to pull himself together, he just needed time to put the words together that's all....right

"Y/n.......um....Armin has to ask you something" Eren blurted out pushing Armin in front of him and in turn, closer to you.

"Eren, what?" he said confused at what his friend was doing

"What do you need" there was the stupid smile again, Armin started to breathe heavily and his eyes were darting everywhere. He didn't even understand what was going on with him which lead to him panicking. He never felt this way before.

"Armin, are you ok," you asked, stepping closer to him with concern etched across our face. He fell to his knees trying to calm down.

"Fuck Armin, what's wrong do you need water, um.. just breath focus on breathing," you said dropping to your knees and taking his face softly in your calloused hands. It was comforting but he was internally cursing himself for crumbling so easily.

"Hey, it's ok, calm down. Breathe Armin. In and out" you said moving one hand from his face to hold his other hand he began to calm down

"Ok that's good, here drink some water ok," you offered, opening your water and placing it up to his lips and he took a few small sips. Standing up and offering Armin a hand, pulling him up.

"Ok I'm sorry I didn't realize that was going to happen, we came here because I wanted to ask you for help with the training, I'm not very good and you are so...'' Eren confessed. Looking ashamed and embarrassed a light hatred laugh escaped your lips

"Eren you don't have to be embarrassed to ask for help, no one will think less of you for needing it. I'll be happy to help you," you replied to the stunned looking boy. He was not expecting that response, Mikasa was right you were approachable. Of course, he wasn't going to admit she was right

"I should probably take Armin to the Bunks to rest," Eren said awkwardly scratching his neck

"Alright, well whenever you want me to help please feel free to let me know I'm not a very busy person," you said walking away

"You like her don't you," Eren asked looking at his friend who had a blush going all the way down his neck

"Shut up Eren"

.

.  
.  
"Y/N look at me and breath," Armin said trying to get you to focus  
"Why was it him, I promised. I promised" legs giving out underneath your, sending you to the ground with a shaking body caused by sobs and adrenaline. You just kept repeating how it was a promise and it wasn't fair.  
"Y/N listen to me ok," Armin said, crouching down and softly pulling your hands away from your face. He was silently grateful they were in a rather private area. Looking into your eyes, they looked broken  
"It's not your fault, how could you have known that something was going to happen. Marco wouldn't want you to blame yourself" you managed to compose yourself rather quickly, getting breathing and thinking under control  
"I promised his mom I would keep him safe, it should have been me. I should've been with him to protect him but I wasn't and now....how am I supposed to tell her he's...." Armin felt hurt seeing you so hurt. She didn't deserve this, Marco didn't deserve it, and you especially didn't deserve it. He was pulled out of his thoughts when you started to speak  
"It doesn't make sense Armin, he didn't have his gear on, they wouldn't have taken it yet it was too soon, this wasn't an accident," you explained standing up with some help from Armin.  
"You think someone purposely.."  
"I don't know Armin but I'm going to find out," you said coldly turning and walking away  
.  
.

.

"Sasha shut up, you going to get us caught" I scolded the girl

"Y/N shut up and let me concentrate" Sasha shot back as they snuck through the doors of the mess hall.

"Marco come on!" Sasha yelled at the boy who quickly went inside"Are you sure we'll be fine?" he said worried about getting caught

"You didn't have to come, Marco," I said, rummaging through the bin of food. Suddenly they heard a banging sound coming from one of the closets. All three teens looked at each other making a silent agreement. Slowly walking toward the closet Marco reached for the door and quickly pulled it open. Inside the closet was Christa and Ymir huddled together. They all let out a relieved sigh

"Thank goodness it's just you guys," Christa said, pulling them into a light hug.

"We thought you were Sadies or something," Ymir said, closing the closet door and wrapping her arm around Christa's shoulders.

"So why are you two up this late?" Sasha asked looking through a bin"Probably the same reason your up" Ymir replied with a slightly annoyed tone

"Damn did we interrupt your date or something," I said, going to help Sasha find something good to eat. Meanwhile, Marco stood there kinda awkwardly.

"Maybe you did Y/LN" Ymir shot back while Christa blushed a bright red.We found some decent snacks and ate and chatted

"Well I'm heading out," I said, getting up from where I sat, leaned up against Marco. A chorus of "good night" and "see you later" was what I heard as I shut the door I decided to take a walk before heading to bed. It had to be at least 2 in the morning meaning we had to be up in 5 hours. The moon was big and bright. Very beautiful, I started walking over a small hill and was soon met with 4 familiar faces. Eren, Reiner, Armin, and Bertholdt.

"Well if it isn't my favorite bitches" I said to purposely piss Reiner off. I have nothing against him and he has nothing against me, I hope, but it's sorta a game we play. We like to mess around with each other a lot. He like an older brother

"Real mature Y/N," Reiner said rolling his eyes

"Christa is in the mess hall with some other people, they're all having a little late-night get together," I said kicking some rocks

"Well it was nice talking to you Y/N, let's go, Bert," Reiner said grabbing his taller friend and running off to probably "talk" to Christa which means flirt while Ymir silently tries to murder him. I looked back at the other two boys

"And then there were 2, so what were you all doing in the forest so late at night," I asked with a sly smirk

"Gross Y/N, don't think as that" Eren exclaimed scrunching his face up in disgust

"ME? I didn't even say anything, I guess I can only talk to Armin. He's the only one who will understand" I say dramatically before grabbing Armin's hand and pulling him away

"Let's go, Armin, we can associate with dirty-minded scoundrels," I say listening to Eren yell about how he's not dirty-minded, eventually saying he's going to join the others in the mess hall.

"Oh sorry," I said looking down to see mine and Armin's hand still laced together, I started to remove my hand but he held it tighter

"I like it," he said, his face a bright red. I felt my face heat up and I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips

"Yeah I like it too," I said looking at our hands and then looking at Armin to see him looking back at me

"Y/N!!" a voice yelled making us pull our hands apart and look for the source of the noise. It was Sasha

"Let's go, I'm tired," she said, dragging her feet as she got closer. She was probably one of the most dramatic people I have met but that is what I liked most about her.

"Ok im coming," I told her, annoyed she ruined the moment

"I'll see you later, yeah?" I asked looking at Armin for a final time

"Yeah" he answered before I turned and started walking with Sasha, meeting up with Ymir and Christa as we got closer to the bunks"

So you and Y/N?" 

.

.

.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a lot of inspiration from the song “Dandelions” by Ruth B at the end

“No Jean I am not going to talk you up to Mikasa, STOP ASKING" Jean was a great friend don't get me wrong but I am not a wingman.

"Ok but can you please at least-" I cut him off before he could continue his pleading

"NO" god he was persistent

"If you do it for me I'll talk good about you to Armin '' He replied wiggling his eyebrows. I was not about to let Jean ruin what I have with Armin. We're just friends and I don't need him thinking weirdly of me.

"There's nothing bad about me to talk about" I responded, obviously there was but Jean couldn't have known any of that.

"Then I guess I'll just tell him about the time you were cleaning the stables out and-" my eyes went wide, I thought i was alone when that happened

"Ok fine horse ass," I said, stomping away from him.

.

"Jean's not that bad. Ok he's pretty bad but still" I was currently hanging out with Mikasa, Annie, and Christa. Somehow Jean got brought up in a conversation so I did what I promised and forced myself you talk about him in a non-mockery type way

"Do you like him?" Christa asked excitedly.

"No, I think Marco has a thing for him" I explained

"Who do you all like" I smirked as I looked at the girls around me

.

"She literally said she didn't like you like that" 

"Ok but maybe what she meant was-"

"No. Jean," I told the boy sitting in front of me while Sasha and Connie were losing it. They thought it was hilarious. Which I kinda was. But they were giving me a headache so I got up and walked out to the porch. The sun was almost set but it was so pretty this time of evening. The spring flowers were blooming. There were dandelions in bunches scattered across the base. My favorite flowers

"Damn, Persephone really outdid herself this time" I whispered to myself, not noticing the person not too far to my right.

"Who's Persephone?" I jumped at the familiar voice and turned to see Armin looking at me with curious eyes

"Oh, I.." I looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear

"Do you really wanna know?" I asked and he nodded his head after a moment of what I assume to be thinking. A smile crept up on my face as I suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him along with me into the forest. Where I knew there wouldn't be anyone around. I had stopped running and let go of Armin’s hand as I crouched down to pick a dandelion. I got up and put it in Armin’s hands, he held it delicately 

"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say," I said looking serious. He nodded his head looked more curious than previously 

"Persephone is the goddess of Spring, she's also the queen of the underworld. '' Marco always told me that I got some sort of "glint" in my eyes when I would talk about mythology 

"You've met her?" Armin asked, eyes wide with excitement 

"I read it from a book I found. It's kinda illegal actually" I explained scratching my neck embarrassed to admit I had illegal information

"Do you know about the ocean?!" Armin practically screamed

"You know about the ocean?" I asked probably as excited as him. 

"Tell me more about Persephone and we can talk about the ocean. Please" Armin said grabbing your hand and pulling you down to sit with him

.

"That much salt?" I lost track of how long we had been talking but it was definitely dark and cold.

"I know it's crazy right. One day I'm going to go to the ocean with Eren and Mikasa…...and maybe you" he mumbled the last part but I heard it

"I would like that," I responded looking at my hands in my lap. I looked up to see Armin already looking at me. Damn he made me nervous 

"I think I like you, more than a friend '' Armin blurted out and then blushed a deep shade of red. I grabbed his hand and leaned over taking the dandelion he was still holding in his other hand and tucking it into his hair behind his ear then placed my hand on his shoulder

"Me too," I said, giving him a quick kiss of the cheek and pulling away quickly. He grabbed the collar of my shirt, softly, and pulled me closer to him before he softly pressed his lips onto mine for a short, sweet kiss.

.

.

.

"You killed him," I said, walking out from behind a pile of wood. I knew I shouldn't have eavesdropped. All I thought I would hear was some gossip about the other cadets. Not...this.  
"Y/N! What are you doing" Reiner exclaimed. Annie and Bertold both looked over. I couldn't move all I could do was stand there. I felt numb and betrayed. People I thought were my friends...were my enemies.  
"Y/N listen to plea-" I cut Annie off. She doesn't get to talk, none of them do  
"No, stop. Why? Why would you-I don't understand, I thought we were friends. I LOOKED UP TO YOU REINER! I-I trusted you, all of you and you killed Marco. WHY!?'' At this point I could feel the tears streaming down my face, my head was swarming around. I didn't understand. They didn't say anything, nothing  
"Are you going to kill me now, are you just going to betray everyone"   
"Y/N please just listen," Bertotld said taking a step forward   
.

.

.

"I know who the female Titan is," I said as I played with Armin's hair

"What do you mean, you have a theory?" he said looking up slightly from his resting position

"Annie" he got up and put the book he was reading to the side.

"I know" he sighed while sitting across from me as I sat up

"I know who the colossal and armored titan is too" his eyes widened and he looked hurt, probably because I never told him.

"Do we trust them?" He asked wanting to know if they were going to get betrayed again

"Yes. But I swore no one would know unless they came back to act or…..they killed me." He looked confused, but I would be too if I was in his place

"I'm telling you in case I die, you need to calculate how to use the information. If it gets out too soon they might act out and I might die" maybe it was manipulative and selfish but I can't die, not without knowing I made the people I love proud.

"I understand"

.

.

.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, I swear" they looked convinced, I've never broken a promise other than the one I made to Ms.Bodt. I know I was being irrational, I should tell everyone but I just couldn't. I couldn't betray them the way they did me. And maybe I was being selfish but I didn't want to die either, I couldn't. I had to stay alive for Marco, for everyone who died. I had to make sure they didn't die in vain. Marco would've done the same thing, he was so understanding and accepting. I had to do this. But one thing for sure, I'm not losing any more friends because of these people.  
"I'm not doing this for you, don't get it twisted, I'm doing what Marco would've done. If you would've given him the chance" I said turning to walk away, but not before I left them with a statement that they could interpret however they wanted.  
" If anything gets worse than now, I won't hesitate to expose each and every one of you".  
.

.

"I've heard of a love that comes once in a lifetime" you broke the peaceful silence and Armin stopped writing. You laid half-awake in the small bed as Armin wrote at the desk on the other side of the room. His back facing you. He wasn't sure if you were just talking nonsense or if you were aiming your words towards him.

"I'm pretty sure you're that love of mine" at this point he turned all the way around, now straddling the back of the chair as he looked at you, who was laying halfway off the bed. Your forearm draped over your eyes, voice slightly hoarse from just coming back from a mission. You had his attention whether you meant to have it or not. You were thinking about all the peaceful times you had with Armin. A specific time popped into your head, playing on repeat. At the beginning of spring, you had a day off and you invited Armin to your special place. Since he had shown you his. It was far off, not too far away from the base, a field that was blooming with dandelions. They have always been your favorite, a few trees scattered the area. You had picked so many dandelions and made a wish on everyone. Armin had asked what you wished for and you told him you couldn't tell or it wouldn't come true. He didn't think anything of it.

"I'm in a field of dandelions, wishing on everyone that you'd be mine" the memories of times you would take him to this special spot came flashing back into Armin's mind, how you wished on so many. He felt warm, not the embarrassment, kind of warm. The kind he felt when he was with his grandpa, his parents. He felt loved, but I was different this time.

"I see forever in your eyes, I feel ok when I see you smile" you had slowly begun to sit up and looked over, expecting to see Armin with his back turned to you, not him resting his chin on his arms, that were crossed over the top of the chair, with a sweet smile plastered on his face. You got embarrassed and turned to avoid his eyes.

"Please" you heard his soft quiet voice, you looked at him as he spoke a single word, it sounded almost desperate

"Continue" and you did 

"I think that you are the one for me" you seemed a little self-conscious at this moment so Armin gave you a nod, he knew it reassured you

"When you're looking at me I've never felt so alive and free, when you're looking at me I've never felt so happy" Armin stood up and walked over to the bed, grabbing your hands gently and pulling you off the bed. Not soon after he had his arms wrapped around your body, whispering 'I love you. You felt safe and loved. To think it began with you just saying whatever came to your mind.

. 

.


End file.
